Fiber tray

ABSTRACT

A fiber tray for managing and organizing fiber distribution is disclosed. The fiber tray includes a housing and a drawer received in the housing. The housing is secured to an equipment rack. The housing includes inner sides with a glide mechanism extending the length of each inner side. The glide mechanism includes a first end and a second end. The glide mechanism also includes at least one curved path located at one of the first end and the second end. The drawer includes a bottom, a first side, a second side, a front and a back. The first and second sides of the drawer have a pin. The pins extending from the sides of the drawer slide within the glide mechanism to enable the drawer to be retracted, extended or removed from the housing.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/941,489, filed on Nov. 8, 2010, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/260,680, filed on Nov. 12, 2009.The subject matter of each of the patent applications listed above isincorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a fiber tray, and more particularly toa glide mechanism for a drawer in a fiber tray.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Fiber trays are designed to manage and organize fiber distribution inareas where space is limited. The fiber trays include housings installedon a rack. A drawer extends from the housing to provide access to thecables routed therein. A fully installed drawer, however, is difficultto maintain in an extended position due to the weight of the fibers andfiber management accessories installed on the drawer. Also, drawers thatdo not positively stop can cause damage to the fiber if the drawer isunintentionally removed. Thus, it would be desirable to install a drawerthat is capable of remaining in an extended position.

Often, it is necessary to remove the drawer for cable management and toreinstall the drawer. Some drawers are difficult to remove or arepermanently fixed to a housing which does not provide enough space forfiber installation. Thus, it would also be desirable for a drawer to beeasily removed from the housing and to be easily reinstalled in thehousing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A fiber tray that manages and organizes fiber distribution is disclosed.The fiber tray includes a housing and a drawer received in the housing.The housing is secured to a rack. The housing includes inner sides witha glide mechanism that extends the length of each inner side. The glidemechanism includes a first end and a second end. The glide mechanismalso includes at least one curved path located at one of the first endand the second end. The drawer includes a bottom, a first side, a secondside, a front and a back. The first and second sides of the drawer havea pin that slides within the glide mechanism. The glide mechanismenables the drawer to slide between a retracted position and a fullyextended service position. The glide mechanism also enables the drawerto be removed from the housing and to be reinstalled in the housing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a fiber tray installed on a section of arack;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the fiber tray of FIG. 1 with a drawerfully extended from the housing;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the drawer and housing of FIG. 2 withthe top of the housing removed;

FIG. 4A is a side perspective view of the glide mechanism of the presentinvention to be installed on the inner sides of the housing of FIG. 3;

FIG. 4B is a partial perspective view of a side of the drawer of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the drawer installed in the housing of FIG. 1with the top of the housing removed;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the drawer installed in the housingtaken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the drawer of FIG. 5 in an extendedposition;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the drawer of FIG. 5 in a serviceposition;

FIG. 9 is a detailed view of the drawer of FIG. 8 with the hinge pinengaging a primary stopping wall in the glide mechanism;

FIG. 10 is a detailed view of the drawer similar to FIG. 9 with thehinge pin at a second end of the curved path of the glide mechanism;

FIG. 11 is a detailed view of the drawer similar to FIG. 9 with thehinge pin at a first end of the curved path of the glide mechanism; and

FIG. 12 is a detailed view of the drawer of FIG. 9 removed from thehousing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1-3 illustrate a fiber tray 20 including a housing 32 secured to arack 30. A drawer 40 extends from the housing 32. The drawer 40 is asheet metal drawer with a bottom 42, a right or first side 44, a left orsecond side 46, a front 48 and an open rear or back 50. Each side 44, 46of the drawer 40 includes a hinge pin 52. As illustrated in FIG. 4B, thehinge pins 52 are located near the rear 50 of each side 44, 46 of thedrawer 40. Each hinge pin 52 is a self-clinching hinge pin.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, a glide mechanism 60 is positioned along theinner sides 36 of the housing 32. The glide mechanisms 60 are secured tothe inner sides 36 of the housing 32 via fasteners 38. The glidemechanisms 60 enable the drawer 40 to slide between a retracted positionand a fully extended service position. The glide mechanisms 60 alsoenable the drawer 40 to easily be removed from the housing 32 and to bereinstalled in the housing 32, as desired.

As illustrated in FIG. 4A, the glide mechanism 60 includes a primarystopping wall 66, a secondary restraining wall 68 and a curved path 70at each end 62, 64 of the glide mechanism 60. The curved path 70 isgenerally C-shaped with a first open end 72 and a second end 74. Aprojection or bump 76 is located at the first open end 72 of the curvedpath 70. The projection 76 is for controlling the drawer 40 when removedor installed in the housing 32.

A vertical path 78 extends from the second end 74 of the curved path 70to a straight path 80. The straight path 80 extends from the primarystopping walls 66 at each end 62, 64 of the glide mechanism 60connecting the curved paths 70 in the glide mechanism 60.

The primary stopping wall 66 of the glide mechanism 60 forces the drawer40 to stop once it is fully extended from the housing 32 before thedrawer 40 can be removed from the housing 32. The secondary restrainingwall 68 prevents the drawer 40 from accidentally slipping into thecurved path 70 before the drawer 40 comes to a stop. The generallyC-shaped curved path 70 limits unintentional movement of the drawer 40.Thus, the primary stopping wall 66, secondary restraining wall 68 andcurved path 70 provide a mechanism that controls and maintains themovement of the drawer 40. As a result, a separate locking mechanism isnot required to maintain the drawer 40 in the extended or retractedpositions.

The symmetry feature of the glide mechanism 60 allows the glidemechanism 60 to be used on either the left side or the right side of thehousing 32. Since only one glide mechanism design is required, the costof providing the glide mechanisms 60 in the fiber tray 20 is reduced.

FIGS. 5-6 illustrate the drawer 40 in a retracted position. The hingepins 52 extending from the sides 44, 46 of the drawer 40 are located inthe straight path 80 at a second end 64 of the glide mechanism 60.

FIG. 7 illustrates the drawer 40 in a fully extended position. The hingepins 52 extending from the sides 44, 46 of the drawer 40 are located inthe straight path 80 at a first end 62 of the glide mechanism 60. Asillustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, when the drawer 40 is fully extended, thedrawer 40 will tilt downward to a service position and lock in place dueto the effect of gravity on the drawer 40. The hinge pins 52 engage theprimary stopping wall 66 to stop the drawer 40 and prevent the drawer 40from falling or sliding out of the glide mechanism 60. As illustrated inFIG. 8, the bottom 42 of the drawer 40 rests on the housing 32.

FIGS. 10-12 illustrate the drawer 40 being removed from the housing 32.To remove the drawer 40, the user guides the drawer 40 so that the hingepins 52 follow the curved path 70 in the glide mechanism 60.

The process of installing the drawer 40 into the housing 32 is theopposite of the removal of the drawer 40. The user lines up the hingepins 52 with the first end 72 of the curved path 70 of the glidemechanism 60. Next, the drawer 40 is moved such that the hinge pins 52slide along the curved path 70 until the hinge pins 52 reach the secondend 74 of the curved path 70. At that point the drawer 40 is level andthe hinge pins 52 drop down the vertical path 78 into the straight path80 of the glide mechanism 60. Then, the drawer 40 may be pushed backinto the housing 32 along the straight path 80 to the retractedposition.

Thus, the glide mechanism 60 of the present invention facilitates theremoval and the installation of a drawer 40 in the housing 32.

Furthermore, while the particular preferred embodiments of the presentinvention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to thoseskilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the teaching of the invention. The matter set forth inthe foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way ofillustration only and not as limitation. The actual scope of theinvention is intended to be defined in the following claims when viewedin their proper perspective based on the prior art.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A glide mechanism for a fiber tray, theglide mechanism comprising: a glide pin; a first linear glide path forreceiving the glide pin, the first linear glide path extending along afirst glide axis; a second linear glide path for receiving the glidepin, the second linear glide path connected to the first linear glidepath and extending along a second glide axis; and a third linear glidepath for receiving the glide pin, the third linear glide path connectedto the second linear glide path and extending along a third glide axis,wherein the second linear glide path is intermediate the first linearglide path and the third linear glide path, wherein the third glide axisis oblique relative to the first glide axis such that the third glidepath extends toward the first glide path.
 2. The glide mechanism ofclaim 1, wherein the second longitudinal glide axis is perpendicular tothe first longitudinal glide axis.
 3. The glide mechanism of claim 1,further comprising a non-linear glide path for receiving the glide pin,the non-linear glide path connected to the third linear glide path. 4.The glide mechanism of claim 3, further comprising a fourth linear glidepath for receiving the glide pin, the fourth linear glide path connectedto the non-linear glide path and extending along a fourth longitudinalglide axis.
 5. The glide mechanism of claim 4, wherein the non-linearglide path is intermediate the third linear glide path and the fourthlinear glide path.
 6. The glide mechanism of claim 5, wherein the fourthlongitudinal glide axis is parallel to the first longitudinal axis.